Eternal
by Ace5980
Summary: 3 years after the homunculi saga, Ed meets a rape victim who claims to know him even though they've never met.  Meanwhile, the homunculi have come back to life, this time with a new player on their field... Post-series, EdxOC, EnvyxOC.
1. 1: The Lion and the Lamb

Envy: Okay, seriously Ace, you really need to stop thinking.

Ace: I'm just taking advantage of all my free-time before school starts. Once that happens, I should be able to escape the dreaded writer's block...

Ed: Hey, why does that thing up there say M instead of T?

Ace: I was playing it safe. You guys have to do a warning now in addition to the disclaimer.

Envy: I CALL DISCLAIMER!

Ed: Shit.

Envy: Ace5980 does not own FullMetal Alchemist.

Ace: Maybe I would if- no, wait, that's not right...

Ed: Warnings for this chapter include insinuation of rape, explicit cutting scene.

Ace: I'm so proud of you!

Ed: When do we get to the romance you always pull on us?

Envy: Yeah, I'm curious about that...

Ace: Uh... I DENY EVERYTHING! *runs away before they can question her further*

* * *

Chapter 1: The Lion and the Lamb

If there was one thing about his job that Edward hated, it was the feeling of being completely useless. After all, he had allowed Roy Mustang to talk him into keeping his status as Major Elric, Fullmetal Alchemist of the Military even though he'd been unable to perform alchemy for three years now. The blond sighed, scrawling yet another signature onto the yet another piece of paperwork he'd chosen to skim rather than read. The mundane life Ed currently lived ill-suited him, but without his alchemy, he'd lost much of his potency.

"NO! NO! I DON'T WANT TO GO BACK TO THE EMPTINESS!" The voice wasn't a familiar one, feminine and frantic, and it gave Ed pause as he processed what it had said. Curious, he got up from his desk and peeked out into the main hallway to see what all the commotion was about. What he saw shocked him more than anything he'd seen in his three peaceful years of monotony. There was a red-haired girl a few inches shorter than he was running down the corridor away from Kain Fuery with fear in her green eyes. Without thinking, he reached out and caught her by the arm, forcing emerald pools to meet golden ones. She froze, fingering the sleeve of his trademark coat. "The red and gold lion," she murmured quietly, "I know you, lion who has lost as much as I have."

Fuery's voice broke the spell over them both. "Looks like Lestari took a real liking to you, Edward, seeing as she let you touch her without permission or freaking out on you."

"What happened to her?" he demanded, fully aware of how she still clung to his sleeve.

"Their cousin, Ben Darke, escaped from prison last week despite the fact he's a high-profile prisoner and a dangerous alchemist to boot. One of Darke's old guards said he always asked about his younger twin sisters, so Mustang sent us to their house. By the time we arrived, Ben Darke was dead, Lestari was crying hysterically and sporting all the classic signs of having been raped, and the older twin Nitya was nowhere to be found." The Military man even seemed regretful when he added, "Ben was the last family she had other than Nitya, and in her current condition, she probably shouldn't be left alone, her being of legal age or not."

Remembering the conversation from when Fuery'd first brought in Black Hayate, Ed let out a sigh. His situation was the only one that had changed enough to allow for the support of another life, plus she was fond enough of him to justify it to a court marshal or a superior. Who knows, it might even prove beneficial to be living with someone else again now that Al was gone. "I'll take her."

"You sure, Ed? Her mental state's bound to be less than stellar right now."

"If Lestari can trust me enough to stay at my place, I don't mind putting her up." The males looked at the quiet girl, who merely blinked at them, her fingers tightening in the fabric of Ed's coat pointedly. "May I touch you?" he asked, his hand hesitating a short distance from her wrist. She nodded, slipping her fingers through his and following him as he walked out of Headquarters carrying a large stack of papers in his free arm as he briskly led them to the little apartment he called home there in Central.

The place was homey enough despite the papers and books scattered about haphazardly and its glaring lack of space. To her relief, the kitchen area and living room had their walls painted a light red and were almost barren of the dreaded colors of black and white. A slow smile spread across her face when she discovered the two bedrooms were painted a nice forest green and the small bathroom a baby blue. Someone would be by in the morning to drop off a box of her personal effects, so Ed generously let her borrow a shirt that was big on him for her to sleep in before he went to the living room to finish his paperwork and assured her to call for him or see him if she needed to.

The instant he left, the girl closed the door noiselessly and pulled out a small sharp knife no longer than her middle finger that she'd palm from her kitchen sink. She glared at her stomach darkly, pulling off her clothes and tossing them aside. There on the flat template of her stomach and pelvis, written there clear as day to her, were seven seven-pointed stars inside of one another inside a circle, all in the stark coloring of black and white. She repressed a shiver at the sight, unwanted memories threatening to flash before her eyes until she pushed them back ruthlessly. Raising the knife steadily in her hands, she slowly got down to the business of removing the damned colors from her skin.

Hands shaking slightly, she traced the outside of the circle in an outline of crimson using a series of short, slow strokes, the pain barely pricking her in her current state. Then, using a quick flick of the wrist each time, she slashed alone the lines of the stars, ignoring the blood welling up from each scratch she inflicted. Until now, she hadn't understood why Ben had taken so much pleasure in his daily ritual of cutting his transmutation circles into his palms, but now, watching her own lifeblood trickle slowly from her self-inflicted cuts as the surface tension slowly broke, she couldn't deny the dark beauty of taking a sharpened blade to one's own flesh. Sinfully curious now, the girl dipped her head down and licked up some of the crimson streaks on her stomach, pausing in her movements to close her eyes and savor the taste.

"Lestari!" Her head jerked up, her green eyes meeting Ed's golden one. He looked cute with the light blush on his cheeks, but she let out a little whine of protest when he took the knife from her and carried her into the bathroom, sitting her down on the edge of the tub. She fidgeted a little while he gently cleaned her off with a wet towel and carefully bandaged the cuts. "Crazy girl," he muttered, wrapping the bandages around her torso, "I come in to get you dinner and find you trying to kill yourself."

A surge of guilt washed through her. "I wasn't trying to kill myself."

"Sure looked like it to me."

She bit her lip, torn as to whether she should tell him or not. She compromised. "He called you a lion, but all I ever was to him was a dumb lamb with a pathetically naïve shepherd boy and a hungry wolf in the midst of my herd."

The blond paused momentarily in his wrapping, deciphering her extended metaphor as best he could, which wasn't much at all. "When you say 'he', you mean the person who raped you, right?" She nodded but made no move to continue elaborating, and he let the matter drop. "If you ever want to talk about it, I'm ready and willing to listen if you want me to be."

She nodded, not wanting to talk about it any longer. The subject was just too painful for her right now. "What's for dinner?"

* * *

In the middle of the pair eating, the phone rang, startling Lestari enough to drop her spoon into her bowl of stew. Ed excused himself on the second ring, expecting it to be Mustang calling to scold him for stealing away a rape victim to a high-profile case. "Hello?"

Instead, he was pleasantly surprised. "Hey Brother!"

"Al! I thought you were supposed to be in Xing! What are you doing calling me?"

"I decided to come back for a visit. I haven't seen you in a while and thought it might be nice to catch up a little before I go see Granny and Winry."

"How soon are you coming?"

"Tomorrow morning by earliest, why?"

Ed briefly explained what he knew about Lestari and her recent episode with the extensive cutting. "I'm no doctor, but her wounds will definitely scar and likely become infected if someone doesn't look at them, but with her trust issues-"

"Fine, I'll take a look at, but this is only gonna end in trouble for you, Nii-san."

"When doesn't it?"

* * *

Envy: I do not understand Ace.

Ed: I don't think it's physically possible to understand her.

Ace: Thanks for that confidence builder, guys!

Lestari: *sweatdrops* Did she just thank you two for failing to understand her?

Envy: Yep. It's normal for her, actually.

Ed: You'll get used to it.

Lestari: Oh dear. By the way, why is this story called Eternal?

Ace: Because your name, Lestari, and Nitya mean 'eternal' in Indonesian and Indian, respectively.

Lestari: Oh. Okay then!

Envy: Blah blah blah, review or I'll murder you.

Ed: Blah blah blah, do it 'cuz otherwise we'll never know what the hell happens to us.

Lestari: I don't get this at all.

Ace: Basically, you give people reason to press that button down there and tell me what they thought about this.

Lestari: Why don't you just ask Envy and Ed?

Ace: Because Envy's not nice about it since he sees it as an opportunity to crush my hopes and dreams and Ed choses not to read these things anymore because he says they normally depress him.

Lestari: Oh. Review because it makes Ace feel better!

Ace: Erm, I'll just offer virtual roller coaster rides as a reward instead...


	2. 2: The Chaos Mercenary

Ace: WHY DOES NO ONE WANT TO GO ON A ROLLER COASTER EXCEPT ME?

Envy: Maybe because you have a real knack for failing at life?

Ace: ... Shut up, you're actually in this chapter.

Envy: Hooray for that!

Ed: I'm gonna go now, if you don't mind...

Ace: Nuh uh, you and Envy have to do your jobs before you go. Since no one reviewed, just get straight to the disclaimer and warning.

Envy: Ace5980 does not own FullMetal Alchemist.

Ed: Warnings for this chapter include rather graphic (for Ace anyway) violence, slight scattered language, and promiscuity.

Ace: *evil grin* I rather like this whole obedience thing...

* * *

Chapter 2: The Chaos Mercenary

Blood. Pain. Screaming as the body reassembled itself for the first time in three agonizingly long years in a void. An onslaught of memories, some welcome relief while others were not. All of this made up the first few minutes of the homunculus's life. His body naturally adopted his preferred form as he rolled over and dry-heaved a few times on his hands and knees on what his mind blankly registered was concrete. There was an unkind kick to his gut, choking him and causing him to go down. "Get up, you mangy cur," a familiar voice said, "You cannot take the easy way out this time, Envy."

Envy, for it was indeed he, spat out a mouthful of blood before raising his hate-filled lavender eyes to glare at the source of his torment. "Father," he spat, "How _nice_ it is to see you alive again." He was back-handed violently into a wall, hissing at the impact and the red sparks signifying his body was healing the bones he'd inadvertently broken. After a long moment, he pushed himself down, chuckling appreciatively at the large indent he'd made in the solid steel structure, but made no more opposing moves. He knew when he'd been viciously out-classed and it was best to retreat. Four pairs of eyes looked at him sympathetically, and he easily identified Lust, Gluttony, the old Greed he'd known best, and a small boy with unruly black hair he could only assume was Wrath.

Envy returned his gaze to his "father", looking to see him stroking the cheek of a girl the sin didn't recognize with almost a loving gaze in his eyes. "And now, to summon my own personal mercenary to supplement the homunculi I lost. You will make a fine sin, little one, especially since you used enough of your knowledge you learned from that fool of an alchemy teacher, Shou Tucker, to save yourself from an impromptu attempt to protect you by changing yourself into a homunculus." True to his word, when Father's hand moved, Envy could see an Ouroboros tattoo in the center of her forehead. Father eased her mouth open and slit his hand, letting his blood of Philosopher's Stones flow into her mouth. She moaned involuntarily, throat convulsing as she swallowed the semi-solid red liquid. Her eyelids flickered sightlessly, and he murmured, "Mercenary? Are you awake?"

In a wicked fast movement, the black-haired girl was upright, her violet eyes gleaming maliciously, and there was a dagger pinning his hand to the ground, protruding sickeningly from the center of his flesh. "Stay the fucking hell away from me," she hissed, curling her fingers even more tightly around the elegant wire-wrapped hilt. Envy was impressed; not only would he himself be hard-pressed to match that kind of raw power, he had no idea where she had gotten the blade from. Uncoiling herself like a snake, she stood, giving the others their first clear look at the newest homunculus. She was slender and cat-like in body, built similarly to Envy, and she had on a pair of black leather riding boots, a black silk skort with a sexy flare to it, and a black sleeveless shirt that seemed to be teasingly on the verge of exposing the edge of her smooth stomach. She sauntered to the exit, hips swaying tantalizingly, not bothering to recover her weapon, and turned to the other homunculi. "Well? Are you coming or what?"

After a moment's hesitation, partially to appreciate her innuendo, Envy fell in step behind her with the others following him. Wrath and Gluttony clung close to Lust, who seemed content to recognize Envy as the leader, and Greed, his eyes watching the movements of Mercenary's body, also seemed okay to let Envy take command. Envy, no matter how much he might like Mercenary, had no intention of letting the fiery young homunculus dominate him completely. "Mercenary?" he asked finally, "Do you even know where you're going?"

She stopped, leaning lazily against the wall. "More or less. I know of a nice mansion estate that's reasonable habitable and currently available for use."

Lust bit her lip conflictedly at the information. "I don't want to drive any humans out of their homes on our account."

Mercenary chuckled dryly. "Relax, _Mom. _The place is owned by the Military, but no one lives there anymore because of the rumors of it being haunted. It shouldn't be all too hard to convince everyone the rumors are true." She clapped her hands together in a manner reminiscent of Edward Elric, only her palms had the black tattooing of the Crimson Alchemist's arrays when she revealed them and jumped up to touch them to the ceiling. The instant her flesh came into contact with the stone, it began crumbling around her after several large bangs.

She smirked, using random falling rocks as springboards to push herself higher and higher until her boots came into contact with carpeted flooring. By the time the other homunculi had made their way up Mercenary's makeshift shaft, she had already given the haunted rumors a good shove in the right direction, claimed a bedroom for herself, and draped herself sensually across a leather couch. When asked about what she had done to the humans with a broken weather vane, a handful of pieces of chicken wire, and a badly torn wisp of a dress, she merely replied, "Humans are so fucking easy to scare," and wisely left it at that when they prudently decided they didn't want to know anymore and left her alone to her own devices in order to better appraise what kind of situation she had led them into.

* * *

"Now, it is my great pleasure to introduce the triumphant return of our very own mistress of the dance, Lady Chaos!" The applause fell loudly on her ears, and she smiled, happily letting the curtain unveil her to the club. Chaos was the best dancer at the nightclub Sensations, a know attraction, and she was naturally the one cloaked in the most mystery. She would appear out of nowhere whenever she felt the urge and after her performance, she would disappear just as suddenly as she had come. If she wasn't so popular, she likely would have been banned a long time ago because she'd fallen into the habit of using throwing knives to pin sleeves to objects when hands attempted to touch her breasts, ass, between her hips, or on her upper thighs. But because she did not protest the hands touching anywhere else on her, she was permitted to stay and dance.

Chaos let the smile slip away as the music started, slipping easily into the dance. She never thought or planned her movements because she was Chaos, and Chaos was teasing motions, flowing fabric, and the brushing of netting against heated skin. Her hips swayed sinfully, and her hands often trailed down her neck and chest. There was only one way to properly describe the way Chaos danced, and that was like a harem slave girl desperately seeking to earn her freedom. The rhythm of her jerking hips and rolling stomach muscles never faltered for a moment, effortlessly keeping up with the music's ebb and flow. She couldn't deny a sadistic sense of satisfaction at watching men unused to her performance attempt to hide growing erections or running from the scene to take care of themselves.

Catching the eye of the club's owner, a woman by the name of Misty, Chaos took the hint that her time on the floor was up and slowly let herself come to her senses and remove the speed from her dancing. Finally, her motions came to a stop, her chest heaving. She hopped down from the stage, good-naturedly enduring the attentions of everyone who reached out to caress her lithe body, though her hand fisted by her waist, a place she was well-known to conceal a knife or two. Misty sighed as Chaos approached but gamely held her ground against the sexy dancer. One of Chaos's quirks was that she would ask for her pay in cash immediately before or after she'd perform, but since she'd never neglect that tentative trust, she was permitted that privilege.

"Misty, I need to ask you for a dressing room now. My place is just a little too dicey to dress like this there anymore. I'll take my things with me of course, but I'd greatly appreciate if I could use it before and afterwards." The club owner readily agreed, perfectly willing to allow this one favor, slight as it was. Chaos sauntered back through the crowd, once again ignoring the stroking along her body, and walked backstage unhurriedly. She claimed her dressing room by stabbing one of her elegant throwing knives through the door, closing and locking it behind her. By the time Misty dared to venture backstage, wanting to investigate the damage fifteen minutes after the room had been occupied, the door was ajar, the knife absent from its impromptu sheath, and Lady Chaos was gone without a trace.

* * *

Envy: HOLY SHIT, ACE HAS GONE INSANE!

Ed: SAVE US!

Mercenary: You babies. This is actually fun.

Lestari: Um, I have to agree with Mercenary on this one.

Envy: THE HORROR! THE HORROR!

Ed: NO MORE! NO MORE, I BEG OF YOU!

Ace: If you want to know exactly what they're screaming about, you need to push that little button down there that says review, otherwise I will continue to torture them.

Ed: HELP US, THIS IS BEYOND SADISTIC!

Envy: I NEVER THOUGHT THE DAY WOULD COME WHERE I WOULD FIND SOMEONE MORE EVIL THAN ME, BUT I JUST DID!

Mercenary: Shut up so that I can actually hear myself think!

Ed and Envy: *terrified* Yes ma'am.


End file.
